


People Like Us

by aurumdalseni (kyo_chan)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galaxy Garrison, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Rewrite, SHEITH - Freeform, Tumblr Prompt, please just give me all the soft pre kerberos sheith amirite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 02:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13331121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyo_chan/pseuds/aurumdalseni
Summary: In which Shiro's mentorship to Keith includes reminding him why he came to the Galaxy Garrison in the first place. The stars are calling to him, and it seems like Shiro hears it too.





	People Like Us

**Author's Note:**

> Comin' at you with another prompt from my blog. This one is also inspired by some [beautiful art](https://goodtohaveyouback.tumblr.com/post/169476943676/young-love-twitter-patreon) by Becca and my own yearning for more pre-Kerberos sheith in the world. I hope you enjoy!

Keith sees an opportunity. It’s wearing a fierce grin and leaving its left side wide open. He suspects it might be a lure, a way to get him in range, but Keith is already taking steps to close in on his sparring partner. He swings for the mark and left hooks right into thin air. He barely manages a frustrated noise, starting the pivot on his heel--

\--and runs right into his opponent’s elbow. He staggers but doesn’t fall, wiping sweat off his brow. He glares at Takashi Shirogane, his mentor, who’s still got a smile on his face. Keith wants to think it’s a proud expression, but he doesn’t dare get his hopes up.

“You knew that was a feign, didn’t you?” Shiro asks.

They haven’t stopped moving, cautiously circling the perimeter of the mat, eyes on one another. Keith doesn’t like how easy it is for Shiro to make assumptions about him. Or rather, Keith doesn’t like how often those assumptions are right.

“Yeah, maybe,” he grumbles.

“Why’d you go in anyway?”

Keith shrugs, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He tastes the sweat on his upper lip. “Dunno. Seems dumb not to. Even if you were faking it, I still might’ve landed the hit.”

“And you definitely wouldn’t have if you hadn’t tried at all, is that it?”

“Somethin’ like.” Keith watches him warily, unsure if what’s coming next is a reprimand or an insult. He’s braced for both outcomes.

“Well, you’re definitely not going to hit me from that far away. Close in again, cadet. Focus, and wait for when my guard really slips.”

Keith snorts, but he edges in, watches, tries harder to get past Shiro’s defenses. His guard is near impenetrable, his right arm constantly tucked in close. Keith wonders absently if Shiro’s ribs have been broken before. As if to counter the protective stance, Shiro’s left hook is vicious, and he never stays still. He’s almost twice Keith’s size and moves like he’s so much lighter than he is, as if zero gravity followed him from his missions back down to earth. Keith’s a little jealous, honestly.

The spar ends with Keith on his back, staring up at the bright lights of the gym ceiling seconds before the shadow of Shiro’s frame blocks it like an eclipse. Keith huffs exasperatedly at Shiro’s offered hand, but he doesn’t ignore it.

“Hit the showers, cadet. Mess hall in ten.”

\--

Keith rolls his shoulders, still aching from the spar with Shiro. He’s pretty sure he’s going to feel it even worse in the morning. Keith can’t find it in him to be fussed about it.

Shiro is nowhere to be seen when he gets to the mess hall; just walking in makes him feel prickly all over again, his satisfaction from the sparring quickly fading to wariness. The higher ranking Garrison students barely give him much acknowledgement at all, and some of his classmates greet him with dirty looks. That’s okay, he knows how those same faces look with black eyes, and his fingers grip the edges of his tray harder. He collects his food from the serving line and sits alone.

Without Shiro there, he makes himself concentrate on food that’s too bland and ignores everyone around him. Sometimes, the Garrison doesn’t feel much different than the home, and the stars are just as far away. At the very least, “mentor” means something very different here than it did back there; Shiro seems to actually care about his future. But a couple of his foster families had started out that way too, then changed their minds. Like it were that easy to say they cared, and that easy to stop when Keith isn’t ready to call them parents or gets into one too many fights.

Keith’s appetite for tasteless roasted chicken and cherry jello disappears real quick.

“Hey.”

A hand falls to Keith’s shoulder, and he’s quick to jab it upward, his other hand clenching into a fist before he swings his head around to look up. His face goes red as Shiro blinks down at him, pulling his hand back like Keith’s a wounded animal about to bite but still smiling

“I have one more thing to show you. Are you finished with dinner?”

Keith groans, rolling his eyes. “You sure don’t take this mentor thing lightly, do you? What is it now? Do I need to practice a more snappy salute? Am I gonna get my ass kicked again?” The best defense is a good offense.

“I could do that if you wanted me to.” Shiro doesn’t miss a beat. “I thought you might want a break.”

“So, what are we doing then?”

Shiro smirks at him in a way that belies the wild streak beneath his Model Student facade, and it sends a thrill down Keith’s spine. Shiro nods his head towards one of the lesser-used exits from the mess hall and takes off with the kind of “I belong here” stride that raises no questions. With a shrug, Keith lopes up beside him.

They take a path Keith’s never seen before, stopping in front of an access door at the end of a classroom hallway. With a devil-may-care grin over his shoulder, Shiro uses his ID to open the door and starts jogging up the stairs. Curious, Keith follows until they get to the very top. Shiro opens the fire door slowly, and the next thing Keith knows, he’s breathing in the familiar scent of fresh desert air, and a gust of warm wind hits his face. They step out onto the roof of the Garrison’s main building, greeted by the dusk-streaked sky beyond. Keith’s breath whooshes out of him at the sight. It’s immediately clear that neither of them should be up here, but Shiro’s grinning wide and pleased, not deterred in the slightest.

“I figured since we both have an early day tomorrow, sneaking out elsewhere is probably a bad idea,” Shiro tells him, casually like he’s discussing  study sessions and not sneaking off grounds without permission.

Considering Shiro has an ID card that lets him up onto the roof, Keith can’t help but wonder what else the golden boy can get away with.

“You all right?”

“Y-yeah,” Keith sputters. The colors beyond them have him in thrall, along with Shiro’s apparent willingness to bend the rules. “This is…this is really great.”

Now that he’s up here, Keith realizes just how stir crazy he’s been, cooped up within the concrete walls of the Garrison. The rigidity, the schedules, every waking hour accounted for in the suffocating structure--he shouldn’t have expected anything different, all things considered. Tasting fresh air and being outside without any purpose beyond watching the sunset makes Keith feel like a drowning man surfacing for that first gasp of air.

He follows Shiro closer to the edge and leans on the railing, staring out as the horizon shifts away from fire colors and into deeper blues and purples, stars coming into view. One day, Keith is going to be out there among them, and he feels the pull of anticipation in his chest. It makes all of the work he’s doing, every one of Iverson’s relentless demands, and the harsh scrutiny of the upper brass completely worth it. Just by opening a couple of doors, Shiro’s reminded him of everything he’s yearning for, shown him the payoff for everything he’s been through in the past few months.

“Someday, you’ll make it out there too,” Shiro muses. He’s also focused on the stars, more of which have come into view against the velvety blue-black sky.

Keith turns to look at him, catching Shiro in an unguarded expression of absolute adoration for what lay beyond the Garrison, beyond their planet. It’s such a striking look that Keith forgets to breathe for a moment. He’s never met anyone else with such an open craving for the chance to leave Earth behind and _explore._  Sure, the other pilots and cadets are excited about space and work hard to earn those precious few spots on the Garrison’s missions, but this is different. As if on some level, Shiro understands the ache that’s been in Keith’s chest his whole life, like a homesickness only the stars can cure.

The silence that follows is comfortable between them. Keith has no idea how long they’re out there, but it’s nice to feel like he can breathe again. Keith smiles to himself, grateful.

“I don’t think I ever said thanks,” he murmurs at last.

Shiro glances at him. “You really don’t have to.”

“I know you said everyone needs a little help, but most people just say it. You actually did it. I’d probably already be expelled if it weren’t for you.”

“You really want to fly,” Shiro says, and the words hit home one by one. “I get it. I really do. You just needed some patience. It’s harder than most people realize. Especially for people like us.”

_People like us._

Keith’s mouth hangs open, but he doesn’t know what to say to that. His chest feels tight. “A-anyway, thanks,” stumbles out of him.

Shiro’s smile is soft, nothing at all like his cocky grin from inside. “You’re welcome, Keith.”

Shiro lets them linger there for a while longer before putting his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “We should head back inside. Lights out will be soon. Don’t want you to get in trouble because of me.”

“Would hate to tarnish my stellar reputation, right?” Keith hopes he’s allowed to tease back.  It’s as unfamiliar as it is intriguing to Keith to be this comfortable with someone.

Shiro ruffles his hair. “Come on, Keith. I promise things will get easier. Plus, you keep up the good work, and this won’t be the last time we break out of this stuffy place.” He tosses a casual wink in Keith’s direction and heads for the door.

Keith swallows and this time really is speechless. Not the last time. He pauses behind Shiro as the door creaks open and glances back at the sky. Jogging down the stairs back to the main floor, he thinks he’s going to sleep very well that night, and whether Shiro hears him or not, Keith thanks him again with all the sincerity he dares to vocalize.

_People like us._

For the first time in his life, he’s not alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me about sheith and Voltron at my [tumblr](http://paladinpuppypile.tumblr.com)!


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